Loner quietly made a mark on abstract figure studies

The Taylor Library in Pacific Beach is presenting a broad selection of Edward Mix's paintings, including this colorful composition, which takes his interest in the figure into abstract territory. (Mark-Elliott Lugo)

The Taylor Library in Pacific Beach is presenting a broad selection of Edward Mix's paintings, including this colorful composition, which takes his interest in the figure into abstract territory. (Mark-Elliott Lugo)

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We generally think of artists as being a part of an art scene. But some artists tend to exist apart, or semi-apart, from it.

Outsider or folk artists usually do, simply because they aren't interested in connecting to the art world or don't know how to – until a curator or an art dealer comes along to champion them, if they're willing. Then there are well-trained artists who lean toward loner status, even if they are known to artist friends and a few collectors.

The late Edward Mix was in this second category. It's not clear how eager he was to exhibit his art, though his shows were infrequent. But he steadily produced work throughout his lifetime: figure studies and abstractions defined by a bold, calligraphic line and shapes that blurred the distinction between the nude and landscape forms. Mix died in November at 90,

and a “memorial exhibition” for him is now on view at the Earl & Birdie Taylor Library in Pacific Beach, at which the San Diego Public Library curator Mark-Elliott Lugo gave him shows in 2002 and 2005.

He lived much of his adult life in San Diego, beginning in the 1940s. Mix left to train at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angelesbetween 1949 and 1951, and then sought further training at La Esmeralda art school in Mexico City. But he returned, at some point in the early 1950s, to take care of his ailing mother and never left.

Mix was also one of the surviving members of a generation of San Diego artists who came of age in the '40s and '50s and included Dan Dickey, Ethel Greene and Sheldon Kirby.

In style, his work fits the time in which he emerged. It's essentially in the abstract expressionist mold; its bold use of black evokes Franz Kline.

Like Kline, he doesn't limit his use of black to outlines but expands it into masses that mingle and define other areas of contrasting color. When he drew and painted from the model – his primary media were india ink and watercolor – limbs were defined by long, broad lines and the head, breasts and buttocks by arcs and occasional circles. Subtle echoes of Picasso surface in figurative pieces.

Mix clearly liked to see what could be accomplished with black and white alone. One of the most compelling works in the show (all are untitled) is an abstraction in which the black lines crisscross multiple times. The dark and light portions of the picture create point-counterpointlike structure, asymmetrical but elegantly balanced.

He wasn't averse to color. In one image, he uses oranges and greens in areas that hint at the figure but don't quite become one. It's as if the figure is embedded in a sculptural wall.

There is genuine beauty and rigor in Mix's art. There is also a sense of obsessiveness about exploring every dimension and nuance of his approach that can become repetitious. But Mix clearly knew that obsessiveness could get you somewhere. An artist might produce perfunctory works, but persistence could yield a luminous composition. In the 39 works on view, you'll see both.